The season is over for the Dallas Cowboys, but there are still things of interest going on. A lot of it is just rehashing what we know, but here are a few items that you might want to check out.
Some injury stuff to start off with.
Cowboys starting right guard Kyle Kosier won't need surgery to repair a torn left MCL, just rest to repair the injury.
Cowboys medical officials are thinking starting cornerback Mike Jenkins will need surgery on his shoulder separated several times during the season. He re-injured the shoulder against the Giants.
Kyle may not be back even if his MCL heals all right, although the team may want to see how he does before they make a decision. But his performance late in the year was not terribly inspiring. Mike Jenkins played hard when he could stay on the field but the shoulder was a problem for him almost the entire year.
Also injury related is speculation about Mat McBriar.
To be sure, McBriar knows that one's contract year isn't the best time to suffer such a nagging, and kind of strange, injury--and that such an injury could turn a long-term offer from Dallas into a short one.
This is another player I wish could come back - but given that Chris Jones seemed to do pretty well, there are questions. A shame, really, because prior to last season, he was an effective and somewhat stealthy weapon for the Cowboys.
Some more gleanings post-jump.
I found one handy little piece you might want to bookmark for reference. It breaks down where the current Cowboys all came from, broken down into the year they were acquired and whether they came through the draft, free agency, or otherwise. It can save some time having to go hunt for information the next time you want to fire off a scathing remark about how pitiful the Cowboys have been at drafting. You know, to, like, make sure you aren't talking out of your butt? Anyway, I was a little stunned to realize that more Cowboys came from free agency (31) than through the draft (29). Maybe that is typical for NFL teams, but it was just something I had never really thought about, and I would have expected something different. No reason, just didn't expect that.
It isn't all that pertinent right now, but I did notice that Sam Hurd has been indicted for his attempt at starting a drug empire. This story just continues to boggle my mind.
The complaint said Hurd was arrested outside a Chicago steakhouse after allegedly telling an undercover agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area.
We talk about RKGs and WKGs. How about just plain SOBs?
Jerry Jones is expecting Rob Ryan to be around for next season. Which really isn't that big a news flash, I guess.
. . . we'd imagine his stock has dropped somewhat since, say, the beginning of the year when his acquisition was front page news.
I would say so.
Speaking of Jerry, there is yet another piece about how he sucks as GM. Some of you will read this with glee because it fits all the things you have already concluded about him. Others may not want to go here because you are tired of the whole meme - but I would take a quick read through it, just for a laugh or two from lines like these.
There have been six coaches since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined Texas wasn't big enough to hold the egos of both Jones and Jimmy Johnson.
The clinical term is megalomania. It originates from the Greek word "mega" meaning big. And "lomania," meaning the football IQ of a bowl of lo mein.
Now that's some funny stuff.
Finally, there is a very insightful piece from the mothership about how the team wasted Tony Romo's best season to date. After talking about the won-lost record, it goes on to concisely make a point many of you have brought up.
Combine all the other measures of success for the position, though, and it was one of the greatest seasons by a quarterback in Cowboys history. Romo threw for 4,184 yards, tossing 31 touchdowns against 10 interceptions while completing over 66 percent of his passes. His passer rating of 102.5 was fourth best in the league, behind only Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
There are two ways to look at it, I suppose. One is to feel bad about what happened and what could have been. Or you can look at the fact that Tony is at his peak as a quarterback right now, and should have several good seasons left in him. Seasons to make a run at that big prize all NFL players want.
The article goes on to have one of the better quotes from Jerry Jones this week (it is even easy to understand for those not fluent in Jerryspeak - well, if you cut it off where I did).
"One of the biggest disappointments that I've had in football, period, is to have a quarterback of that skill level, and not have him competing in the playoffs," owner Jerry Jones said after Sunday's loss at New York.
There is also one other thing that I saw in the article I wanted to highlight. Jason Garrett was talking about the problems the offensive line had protecting Tony (he got sacked 36 times).
While head coach and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett made sure to point out the challenge of such turnover on the offensive line, he also signaled on Monday that the front five wasn't set in stone moving forward.
"They did some good things," Garrett said. "They did grow throughout the season. But we want to get better in that area as well."
It's a process, after all.